An Introduction to Christopher Dawson’s Concept of History: Chapter Four The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West

John Thornhill SM

Editor’s Note: Earlier chapters of this E-book are available in prior issues of AEJT, 11--13. The author continues to present his case for a significant re-thinking of the place and importance of Christopher Dawson for a contemporary philosophy and theology of history.

We come now to consider the origins and development of our Western civilization. The cradle of this civilization is the European continent. The idea of ‘Europe’ as a community of peoples united by a common culture is comparatively recent. ‘In spite of the Greek origin of the word and its

occasional use in the Middle Ages’, Dawson wrote, ‘ “Europe” is a peculiarly modern concept, which was introduced by the scholars of the Renaissance … for them “Europe” was not a continent but a comparatively small society of peoples’ who ‘dreamed of the re-flowering of the classical tradition, first in Italy and then in lands beyond the Alps’ 1 In fact, during the long period in which the world religion of Christian faith engendered the unity of culture that animated a new civilization, the European continent was a patchwork of diverse cultural groups who saw themselves as having little in common.

The Greco-Roman culture that united the Hellenistic civilization, as we have seen, proved unstable and transitional. For Dawson, this illustrated a general principle of cultural evolution. The last stage of a culture, he wrote, ‘is not
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decay but syncretism’. The cultural development which took place in the final phase of Hellenistic culture, Dawson observed, ‘was not merely of importance as the conclusion of the old world, it had decisive influence on the future’ 2. Thus the pantheon of Hellenistic deities was an amalgamation of the gods of the subjugated peasant culture and those of the conquering warrior culture 3. But in this period of decline, the Hellenistic religious tradition had lost its vitality: Dawson pointed to clear evidence of this in the evolution of the role of the temple priesthood – as this institution lost its religious vitality and became ‘a purely social institution – a sort of honorary ornamental magistracy’ 4. That the Hellenistic culture of the first century AD was open to new influences was evident in the spread of exotic Eastern cults. But the internal resources of this culture were unable to supply this need. ‘It was through the golden mouth of Plato’, Dawson wrote that the vision of the two worlds – the world of appearance and shadow, and the world of timeless, changeless reality – found classical expression in the West’ 5. But the teaching of Plato did not inspire a religious response that could revitalise the ailing culture. ‘Nothing could show the impossibility of curing the ills of humanity by pure intelligence more completely’, Dawson wrote, ‘than Plato’s own attempt to reform the state of Sicily by giving a young tyrant lessons in mathematics’. ‘The political

problems of the Greek world’, he concluded, ‘were solved not by the philosopher-king but by condottieri and Macedonian generals, and the gulf between the spiritual world and human life grew steadily wider until the coming of Christianity’ 6.

Coming into a Hellenistic culture whose decline had encouraged a spirit of syncretism and a search for a more satisfying vision of human existence, the
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message of Christian faith began to make converts. Dawson’s understanding of the evolution of human cultures helps us to situate the biblical story which is the heart of Christian faith within the broader picture of human history; his description of Christian faith’s antecedents and the message it brought to the world of the first century was well informed, in tune with the findings of today’s biblical scholarship. Christian faith saw itself as the heir to the

monotheistic tradition of Israel, and as fulfilling the great hope this tradition had engendered.

As we have seen already, Dawson saw the monotheistic tradition as an extraordinary outcome of the interaction of peasant and warrior cultures. He described as remarkable, ‘the interaction between the religion of the warlike pastoral Hebrew tribes and the fertility cults of the … Canaanite population’, an outcome in which ‘the “gods of the land” never succeeded in coming to terms with the deity of the immigrants’. ‘The religion of the Jewish people’ Dawson concluded, ‘owed its characteristic form to a series of reactions on the part of the religious tradition of the conquerors against the process of assimilation that was the normal condition elsewhere’ 7.

We have already noted Dawson’s observation that the gods of the ancient world ‘do not seem to belong to a different order of reality from that of nature’ 8. This apparently simple statement has momentous philosophical implications, which help us to understand the absolute monotheism of the Judeo-Christian tradition. In fact, it was a failure to recognise that the transcendent Absolute belongs to a different order from that of nature that prevented Plato and the Greek philosophers from arriving at an unambiguous monotheism.

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Gerhard Lohfink, a contemporary scripture scholar has commented on this fact, writing: ‘the great Greek philosophers … in one decisive point never attained the unique aspect of Jewish belief in God: they could not reach the concept of genuine creation … It was inaccessible to the Greeks because they could neither free themselves from the numinous divinity of the world, or achieve a consistent idea of a God who is utterly Other, a God who stands over against the world and its history’ 9.

Lohfink continues: ‘The sharp distinction between God and the world that Israel had discovered and from which all the history of enlightenment from then until now is derived was thus not a further development of Greek philosophy, nor was it a concentration or sublimation of the Eastern myths of the gods; it arouse out of the experience of a God who constantly led Israel out of societies in which everything was static and divinized. In this very experience of constantly being led out Israel found that its God was revealed as the Wholly Other, absolutely distinct from a numinous, god-infested world’.

‘Even the critics (of biblical faith)’, Dawson wrote in 1935, ‘admit the unique character of the relations between Israel and its God. In the case of the other Semitic peoples this relationship is a natural one and consists in the kinship of the people with its god. Only in the case of Israel is the relation an adoptive one that had its origin in a series of particular historical events … And in the writings of the prophets we see how the successive crises of Jewish history were the occasion of fresh revelation of the divine vocation of Israel and of the divine purpose in history’. With the passing of time, the message of denunciation against Israel’s unfaithfulness and human pride in general is associated with ‘an increasing revelation of the hope of Israel. The New Jerusalem will not be a
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kingdom like the kingdoms of the Gentiles, but an eternal and universal one, founded in a new spiritual covenant … in the book of Daniel which formed a model for later apocalyptic literature … the Kingdom of God does not belong to the series of the world empires, it is something that comes from outside and replaces them … It is the universal kingdom of the Son of Man which will destroy the kingdoms of the four beasts and will endure for ever’.

‘This is the tradition’, Dawson continued, ‘that was inherited by the Christian Church. Indeed it may be said that it was precisely this prophetic and

apocalyptic element in Judaism to which Christianity appealed … to the primitive Christian it was in the literal sense the Good News of the Kingdom. It was the announcement of a cosmic revolution, the beginning of a new world order: the dispensation of the fullness of time to re-establish all things in Christ’ 10.

The world religions were inspired by the discovery of a transcendent order against which human existence and destiny must be measured. Christianity found this measure through faith in the One God of Israel’s scriptures which recognised the unfolding of a divine purpose in history, a purpose finally expressed and fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, the incarnate Word of God.

This Christian vision challenged the outlook of Hellenism, Dawson wrote, ‘History was not longer a mere unintelligible chaos of disconnected events … Eternity had entered into time and henceforward the singular and the temporal had acquired eternal significance. The closed circle of time had been broken and a ladder had been let down from heaven to earth by which mankind can

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The spread of Christian faith was to engender a new order of civilization. What he denied was an external justification by the manifest triumph of Jewish national hope. which lasted for several centuries. and go forward in newness of life to a new world’ 11. This is the great paradox of the gospel.escape from the “sorrowful wheel” which had cast its shadow over Greek and Indian thought. a centre and an end … (which) transcend history … they are not historical events in the ordinary sense of the word. so that the fulfilment of prophecy towards which the whole of history of Israel was tended had been concealed from Israel by the scandal of the Cross’ 12. It has a beginning. but the cultural turmoil of the region we now call Europe. but acts of divine creation to which the whole process of history is subordinate … The world-transforming events which changed the whole course of human history have occurred as it were under the surface of history unnoticed by the historians and philosophers. it is a new creation – the introduction of a new spiritual principle which gradually leavens and transforms human nature into something new … the unique divine event gives spiritual unity to the whole historical process … The Christian conception of history is essentially unitary. The great mystery of the divine purpose which has been hidden throughout the ages has now been manifested in the sight of heaven and earth by the apostolic ministry … He fully accepted the Jewish doctrine of a sacred history which would justify the ways of God to man. as St Paul asserts with such tremendous force. proved to be an important factor in the gradual shaping of this new
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Chapter 4 . The ways of God are deeper and more mysterious than that. Dawson further explained the vision Christian faith brought to the ancient world: ‘The Christian doctrine of the Incarnation is not simply a theophany – a revelation of God to man.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 6
.
In another place.

who were to play a major part in the first phase of these developments were tribal warrior groups who infiltrated the northern region of the old Roman territories from early in the fifth century. to stay on.civilization. he did battle against the Arian Visigoths. Having become overlords.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 7
. where the conquerors were very much outnumbered by people of the old GrecoRoman culture. including nobility and Catholic clergy.
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What follows is in large part derived from Alessandro Barbaro’s Charlemagne: Father of a Continent (London: Folio Society. The Merivingian dynasty (called after a tribal ancestor) came to power when Clovis (465-511) overthrew the last Roman governor in Gaul. taking control of a large area between the Somme and the Loire. Still a pagan.
The rule of these Frankish kings was exercised. With two thousand of his warriors he was baptised by Remigius. and were given a collective name. he married Clotilda of Burgundy who converted him to Christianity after a victory over the Alemmani. taking possession of territory reaching Bordeaux and Toulouse. another barbarian group. however.
The ‘Franks’. provided they accepted the authority of the Frankish kings. ‘brave ones’). including their Germanic dialects and similar religious cults. They shared much in common. lived under the authority of
barbarian kings and paid their taxes to them. in time. by two dynasties. and making Paris his capital. they allowed Latin speakers in the northern region under their rule. ‘the Franks’ (literally. the bishop of Reims.
Chapter 4 . In the southern region. They were to drive the rival Visigoths over the Pyrenees and subjugate other tribal groups. 2006) 5-23. they were gradually absorbed into a society that gave birth to the French language. This region. A supporter of orthodoxy. A few historical details will help us situate the developments we are going to discuss 13.

and was anointed in the role by the bishops of Gaul. ‘Charles the Great’. Charlemagne’s immense achievements helped shape the future course of European history. increasing his prestige by defeating a Muslim incursion at Poitiers (732). a powerful Mayor. but knew how to lead the Franks to victory – became increasingly powerful.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 8
. became the undisputed ruler of the Franks. In 754.The Merivingian dynasty disintegrated. under threat in Rome from the barbarian
Lombards. had at its heart a ‘dualism’ – the coexistence of two cultural strains which interacted creatively in a way that enriched them both. We are familiar with this dynamic in Dawson’s earlier analysis of the interaction between the peasant and the warrior cultures. known as ‘Mayors or the Palace’ – men who boasted no sacred charism. As a result. Whereas. it brought forth an actualisation of the
Chapter 4 . Pope Stephen. which in Dawson’s judgment laid the foundations of Western civilization. Pepin of Herstal.
The cultural development which took place during the period we have outlined.
In 688. another Pepin. Pepin’s son. become effective ruler he proclaimed himself king in 751. officials of the royal household. Charles Martel inherited his effective rule. weakened by the custom of dividing the kingdom among the sons of the deceased ruler. in the barbarian culture from which these kings had come. came to Gaul and repeated the consecration. his dynasty did not long survive after his death. this role lost its significance. took over effective rule of the Frankish people. the eldest son of Pepin who gave the Carolingian dynasty its name. after their conversion to Christianity. In 714. When Charles Martel’s son. these kings had a sacred priestly role on behalf of the people comparable in importance with their warrior leadership. when his younger brother died at an early age in 771. In this case. as we shall see.
Charlemagne (747-814). However.

with the result that its importance in the formation of our Western tradition has been little appreciated.
Chapter 4 . in the absence of this challenging dualism.potentialities of human nature which gives the Western tradition its distinctive characteristics. In another place. He attributed this neglect to ‘the curious divorce between ancient and modern history’ 14. affected every aspect of Western thought … above all. In the formative period of this cultural tradition. a pattern which in spite of its arbitrary and unscientific character has dominated the teaching of history down to modern times and still affects our attitude to the past’ 15. and the vision of the Christian faith to which they were converted as they embraced the higher culture of the peoples they had conquered.
Dawson was of the opinion that the period we are considering has not been sufficiently studied by modern historians. An
interaction took place in which the ideals of Christian faith – which at first sight seemed to have little prospect of surviving – not only survived true to their origins. medieval and modern periods. to which reference was made early in this study. but brought forth a vital new culture which brought to light the potentialities of these ideals in a way that the Eastern Christian tradition was unable to do. and inaugurated a new type of historiography … Thus the unity of the medieval conception of history was lost and in its place there gradually developed a new pattern of history which eventually took the form of a threefold division between the ancient. it changed the Western view of history. Dawson attributed the
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RWC 28 DWH 245. this dualism brought together the barbarian vitality of the warrior tribes dominating the continent. Dawson explained further this neglect of the period we have come to call ‘the Middle Ages’. In his long critique of Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The ‘idealisation of classical antiquity’ which ‘became the characteristic feature of Renaissance culture.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 9
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Chapter 4 . 1957). Medieval Civilization (400-1500) 18. As we have seen in Chapter 1. I am reassured when I compare his work with that of the Dominican theologian. Man and Society in the Twelfth Century (Toronto: University Press). under the title. Vrin. his comments on Chenu’s approach show his understanding of an acceptable historical methodology to be diametrically opposed to Dawson’s. is enlightening. in his influential work. the outcome of a lifetime of specialized study. As a consequence. 18 Medieval Civilization 400-1500 (Oxford: Blackwells. Chenu’s work. 1988). Religion and the Rise of Western Culture. An English version of a large part of this work was published in 1968. therefore. Nature. a version of the French edition 1964/84. The world between was a world of darkness and disorder. Dawson saw the achievements of great historians of the past as involving a sympathetic ‘identification with their subject’ (as in the case of Gibbon) which made possible the ‘intuitive
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DWH 333. Dawson is something of a pioneer.shortcomings of this influential work to the outlook we have described: ‘His thought had been so moulded by the culture of the Enlightenment that he could recognise no other values. comprehensively documents the period of the remarkable renaissance which took place towards the end of the medieval period. we may well ask
ourselves whether the judgments he makes are reliable.
A comparison of the interpretation of the medieval period in the West offered by Dawson with that of Jacques Le Goff. of superstition and barbarism’ 16
Making the analysis of the medieval period we are now to consider. However.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 10
.-D. or from the modern classical culture that was rooted in antiquity. Chenu 17. M. Dawson’s Gifford Lectures (1948 and 1949). La théologie au douzième siècle (Paris: J. Le Goff makes use of Chenu’s
research. Everything that was of value in the world came from antiquity. present an interpretation of the cultural dynamics at work in the late medieval period completely in harmony with Chenu’s findings.

Chenu and Henri de Lubac for adopting such an approach: ‘Even when their analyses are as luminous. and he has made an important contribution in this field. as he makes his interpretation. One must distance oneself from this to try to cast a light on the intellectual history of the middle ages which is perhaps less “affectionate” ’ 19. Le Goff assumes that a sympathetic identification with the subject makes an acceptable critical analysis impossible.understanding. on the other hand. is material and economic development during the period. criticises M. for historians to recognise the distinction of these two dimensions of their task. they are dependent on a parti pris (in the best sense of the phrase). Dawson may well have made judgments that can be qualified
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Medieval Civilization. In fact.
Chapter 4 . of course. for which he seeks remote origins in medieval culture – a legitimate line of inquiry. as penetrating and as sensitive to developments as are those or Père Chenu or Père de Lubac. his interpretative frame of reference is the outlook of contemporary modernity. In the realm of ideas. the approach taken by Le Goff arrives at an understanding of medieval Christianity which. but one which proves insufficient when it
disregards the spiritual dynamisms that shaped the remarkable achievements of medieval Christendom
In making a pioneering study of the cultural complexities of this long and turbulent period. It is important. and their inherent limitations. Le Goff’s main interest. creative imagination an universal vision’ with which they approached their work of critical analysis and interpretation (as in the case of von Ranke and de Tocquiville).
In other words. to those who understand the genius of Christianity.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 11
. which have deepened historical understanding. seems like a caricature which completely disregards the self-understanding of the period.344. Le Goff.D. but the examples given by Dawson make it clear that they are certainly not incompatible.p.

Chapter 4 . By degrees it permeated the whole society … and inspired a new type of Byzantine culture … The mother tongue of the Church was Greek and its theological development was mainly due to Asiatic Greek councils and Asiatic Greek theologians’.in the light of later research. if the reader were not alerted to the immense contribution of the
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RWC 29 DWH 186. far more the rural population. Its energies came to be applied to ‘the mystical and metaphysical side of religion’ 21. ‘For centuries to come’. and. It would be unfortunate. Meanwhile. Dawson judged that because the Christian tradition of the East did not face these overt challenges. Let us now follow something of the analysis he has made. it gave little attention to ‘historical and social issues’. and makes a convincing case that the outcome of its cultural interactions helped to shape the Western civilized tradition. were still largely non-Christian in culture and tradition’ 20. However. ‘paganism was still strong.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 12
. Dawson continued. ‘the Eastern empire was to remain the centre of the development of Christian thought and culture. As a
consequence it experienced ‘a decline in moral energy and in spiritual freedom and initiative’. however.
Developments in the East – the region around the Aegean Sea dominated by the new imperial capital at Constantinople – were more straightforward than what was to unfold in the West. in the Latin West. what he has written sheds a great deal of light on this period. Dawson wrote. The new religion had its origin in the semi-oriental underworld of the great Hellenistic cities … estranged from the soulless materialistic culture of the Roman world-state. because our study aims to give an understanding of the Western tradition.
We shall have little further to say of the Byzantine culture. and moved towards becoming ‘an absolute static religion of the Oriental type’. and the ruling classes.

who continued the development of Greek Christian thought through the medium of Athanasius and the great Cappadocian Fathers. the Sacraments are conceived primarily as means of Grace. Dawson’s comparison of the two traditions is enlightening. ‘found its centre and principle of organisation in the doctrine of Grace. DWH 186. Dawson said. reflecting the pragmatic outlook of the Roman tradition. 1953) p. Thus the whole Church owes to the Eastern tradition what Dawson described as ‘the great age of creative theological thought’.Christian tradition of the East to the life of the whole Christian Church. The cultural heritage of Hellenism led the Eastern tradition along another path: ‘In the East. and the Christian life is seen a process of deification by which humanity is assimilated to the immortal nature of the Divine Word’.99. Dawson commented: ‘While the Orthodox East was
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Medieval Essays (ME) (London: Sheed and Ward. the Christian life as the Life of Grace … Thus the tendency of Western theology finds its representative in St Augustine. Basil and the two Gregorys’ 22. in which ‘the development of dogma was organically linked with sacramentalism and mysticism … three aspects of a single reality – the great mystery of restoration. The Sacraments are conceived as mysteries of
illumination.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 13
. Western
Christianity. and facing practical problems which threatened to overwhelm it (such as apostasy during persecution and a subsequent weakening of Church unity. and ‘the typical representative of Eastern theology is to be found in Origen. illumination and deification of humanity by the Incarnation of the Divine Word’ 23.
Chapter 4 . theology is the doctrine of the Consubstantial Word. and later. the Doctor of Grace. whose influence dominates the whole medieval development’.
It is impossible to understand the strengths that brought Western Christianity through the many challenges it was to face if the debt it owes to the Eastern tradition is not recognised. coming to terms with barbarian invasions) developed a theology which.

where Roman patriotism and the old senatorial class resented the transfer of the imperial capital to Constantinople.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 14
. This gift was reshaped. ‘There were only eighteen years
between (the emperor) Theodosius’ closing of the (pagan) temples and the first sack of the Eternal City by the barbarians’(410) 26. even after Christianity had become the official religion of the Empire. Marius Victorinus. and Ambrose. but even at Rome the pagan resistance was strong.
The Western sphere included the southern region around the shores of the Mediterranean. however. for instance. in the spirit of the West by the practical approach of St Benedict. the Latin world remained open to oriental influences’ as evidenced in the works. where the barbarian conquerors were vastly outnumbered by the Latin-speaking population. This conservatism was strongest in the West. ‘which had an important share in the first movement of Christian expansion’.
In the West. Cf. the Christian movement faced challenges that were unavoidable. and held the Christians responsible for undermining the morale of the state as it faced the attacks of the northern barbarians. the monastic ideal was a gift of the Eastern tradition to the West 25. as
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ME 100. Paradoxically. ‘shut its eyes to the existence of the new faith’. ‘There were a few Western European cities such as Rome and Lyons’. Hilary. of Jerome.too proud of its high culture and its wealth of theological learning to learn anything from the West. However the spread of a vital Christianity was hampered there by the fact that the conquerors were Arian Christians who sometimes persecuted those who did not embrace Arianism. and the translations of Denis the Areopagite had considerable influence on the development of religious through in the medieval period 24. As we shall see. The aristocratic class. Dawson wrote. ME 19-20. 26 RWC 29-30
Chapter 4 . Dawson wrote.

the northern regions. A man’s real citizenship was not to be found in his subjection to the barbarian state. By the age of Gregory of Tours (538-94). Dawson wrote. the prestige of the Roman name and the care of the people. ‘the Christian society was gradually losing touch with the traditions of Roman culture. The Merovingian kings had not ceased to be barbarous by becoming Christians. and thus fulfilled a double function in a society which needed social as well as religious leadership’. and was itself becoming positively barbarized’. ‘the barbarism which had destroyed the Empire had also invaded the Church..
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Chapter 4 . ‘where the conquerors were far more barbarous in culture and pagan in religion .The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 15
. But this evolution had a down side.Dawson pointed out. Indeed. The barbarian rulers maintained social order of a sort ‘but everything belonged to the Church – moral authority. ‘A process of assimilation was going on’. more treacherous and more corrupt … the outward decline in the condition of culture was accompanied by a deterioration of moral standards which also affected the bishops and the monasteries’ 27. but in his membership of the Christian Church. were more accessible to the missionary action of the Church. since the Church now united the social tradition of Roman culture with its own spiritual tradition. which was also the representative of the higher culture … The spiritual resources of the Church had not been seriously impaired by the fall of the Empire. and it was to the bishop rather than to the king that he looked to as leader of Christian society’.. they seemed to become more ferocious. ‘which tended to create a new social unity’. Indeed in certain respects they were strengthened. learning and culture. Dawson wrote. in proportion as they became detached from the tribal background of the old Germanic kingship. ‘As the barbarians were converted to Christianity. they also acquired elements of the higher culture’. however. at the same time.

Dawson saw this situation as affecting the Western tradition in another way. Dawson wrote. How was the Christian message to express its authority in the midst of this barbaric and largely illiterate people? Apart from the wrath of God. peasants mutilated. where the weak could hardly survive. It brought to the times ‘a tremendous message of divine judgment and salvation.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 16
. cities depopulated and starving.
How was the Christian faith to remain true to its tradition in this chaotic situation? The Western Church. did not see itself as having a ‘civilizing mission’. ‘the saints
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Chapter 4 . and the strong died young in battle’. ‘Everywhere we see sorrow and lamentation’. ‘No peasant is left to till the fields. and had no ‘conscious hope of social progress’. became ‘a world in which war and famine and slavery and torture were the unavoidable facts of daily experience. Dawson wrote. Dawson wrote. Humanity … was sinking ever deeper under the burden of its own guilt. Only by the way of the Cross and by the grace of the crucified Redeemer was it possible for men to extricate themselves from the massa damnata of regenerate humanity and escape from the wreckage of a doomed world’ 29. ‘the vengeance of the saints was the only power capable of intimidating the lawless ruffians who were so common among the new ruling class in the semi-barbaric Frankish state’. Magnanimous statesman that he was. he wrote. there are few inhabitants left in the cities … Some are led away captive … and still more slain before our eyes’ 28.‘The declining civilization of the post-Roman period’. Gregory the Great gives us a glimpse of the age as he bewails these evils – prisoners ‘tied by the neck like dogs and led away into slavery’. he continued. ‘In the Dark Ages’. It is not
difficult to recognise that this outlook left its mark on the psyche of Western Christianity.

whose shrine at Tours was ‘a fountain of grace and miraculous healing. ‘to enter into the world of popular Christian imagination which finds expression in the early medieval legends of the saints. ‘it was inevitable that the Christian ascetic and saint should acquire some of the features of the pagan shaman and demigod: that his prestige should depend upon his power as a wonder-worker and that men should seek his decision in the same way as they had formerly resorted to the shrine of a pagan oracle’. for it was felt equally at both ends of the social scale – among leaders of culture like Gregory of Tours and Gregory the Great. or the metaphysical religion of the age of the Fathers.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 17
.were not merely patterns of moral perfection whose prayers were invoked by the Church. to which the sick resorted from all parts of Gaul. He pointed to the outstanding example of St Martin. since it further removed from us than the mysticism of the late Middle Ages. Dawson wrote. especially the peasants who. Dawson continued. The legends of the saints. became ‘a new Christian mythology’. ‘to exaggerate the importance of the cult of the saints in the period that followed the fall of the Empire in the West.
‘It would be difficult’. They were supernatural powers who inhabited their sanctuaries and continued to watch over the welfare of their land and their people’. as “pagani” had hitherto been unaffected by the new religion of the cities’. and among the common people. Dawson commented. he continued. Yet it is genuinely Christian in spirit. telling of ‘the world of divine power and mystery in which the harsh necessities of daily experience no longer dominate man’s life – where nothing is impossible and every human suffering and misfortune may find a remedy’. though it is the Christianity
Chapter 4 . an asylum where all the oppressed – the fugitive slave. ‘In this twilight world’. the escaped criminal and even those on whom the vengeance of the king had fallen – could find refuge and supernatural protection’.
‘It is very difficult for the modern mind’.

as the fulfilment of the ages’. The commemoration and mystical re-presentation of the sacred history was at the same time the initiation and rebirth of the creature into an eternal existence … the old order has already passed away and the eternal world invaded and transfused the world of time’
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. In 1964.
Dawson links the spirit in which these practices originally developed. provided an element of historical and social continuity. ‘It is almost impossible to convey to the modern mind the realism and objectivity with which the Christians of those ages viewed this participation in the mystery of salvation. of a situation not culturally remote from what Dawson has described – watching ‘the attention with which the people were following the blessings on Holy Saturday for hours on end without books or any words of “explanation” ‘– he became profoundly aware that ‘looking’ can be ‘in itself a living participation in
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Chapter 4 . We may be tempted to see Dawson reading into this situation an
awareness that he derived from contemporary theology. discussing the problems the contemporary Church faces in fostering greater liturgical ‘participation’. Associated with this cult of the saints and their shrines were the medieval practice of pilgrimages and the veneration of relics. the German theologian.of a society striving against the all-pervading influence of a barbaric environment’ 30. The fact that these things are not easy for the modern mind to appreciate. in an open letter to the Mainz Liturgical Congress. and the place that they retained in the popular religion of Catholicism long after the circumstances which inspired them had changed. The liturgical celebration of the feast-days of the saints. however. the Incarnation as ‘the revelation of the divine purpose manifested on earth and in time. recalled an experience he once had in Sicily. was to prove something of an embarrassment to the Catholic tradition at the time of the Reformation and its aftermath. Romano Guardini. he wrote. with the central truth of Christian faith.

They were looked forward to in the life of eternity. ways of generosity and love. ways that. In him the ways of God have been finally revealed – ways that will be fulfilled as the whole of creation is gathered up in God’s final achievement. the Christian movement inherited from Judaism an assured hope in the coming of an eternal and universal ‘kingdom’ of God. But the message of the Christian gospel was capable of inspiring a far more optimistic
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Herder Correspondence.
Chapter 4 . death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth the mysterious fulfilment of this hope. established by a gratuitous divine adoption which gives a final expression to the ways of the living God. would have seemed an impossible ideal in the present world. ways that recognise that the form all human relations should have is that of friendship. invites us to clarify further Christian theology’s interpretation of the ‘Good News’ which is the heart of Christian faith. the Good News of God for every age and every human situation. in person. Christian faith saw in the life.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 19
. As we have seen.1 n.
To the age we have been considering. 1964. vol.8. And these ways must find expression in the lives of God’s people – ways of compassion and reconciliation. if they could have been clearly articulated. ways that are open to all that is authentic and life giving. a ‘mystery’ of divine purpose. he declared. so well interpreted for us by Dawson – overwhelmed as it has been by a culture of barbarism – these ideals. is the fact that today’s culture has robbed most people of the contemplative ability displayed by these simple unlettered people 32. One of the problems the contemporary Church faces. hidden from all ages and now revealed in the Saviour who is. while they affirm the value and uniqueness of every human person will never use personal advantage to dominate and manipulate others.
What we have just heard from Dawson concerning the vision of hope Christian faith brought to the Dark Ages.the act’.

Dawson wrote. outspoken in condemning the
33
RWC 44. ‘There was much in oriental monasticism’. 435) to go and see for themselves the developments taking place in the deserts of Egypt and Syria. either singly or in groups. however. and – at the time when Rome itself was under threat from barbarian invaders – it led influential Western thinkers such as Jerome (d. one of the creators of the Western monastic tradition. though he was a bishop.430). St Augustine (d. had great influence in fostering monastic life in the West. he concluded. to the rise of the European universities’. ‘It was through
monasticism’. the monastic movement soon developed a culture very different from the eccentric individualism which often characterised
developments in the East. This movement developed rapidly in the East. with far reaching implications for the ongoing development of the civilized tradition of the West. Dawson wrote.
In the West. 420) and Cassian (d.
‘Throughout the whole period that extends from the decline of classical civilization. ‘the monastery was the most typical cultural institution’. ‘that religion exercised a direct formative influence on the whole cultural development of these centuries’ 33. had with a group of followers embraced a monastic form of life. those who embraced a heroic life of asceticism. founder of a monastery in Marseilles.interpretation. took their place in Christian imagination as witnesses to the world to come.
After the age of the Christian martyrs. ‘that was repugnant to the disciplined and practical ethos of the Roman tradition’. Dawson wrote. The writings of John Cassian. He was.
And it was in the monastic movement that we must now
consider that this interpretation began to become a manifest reality in the life of the Christian people.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 20
.
Chapter 4 .

in the West. ‘The Rule of St Benedict’. and who was certainly not lacking in a sense of social responsibility. monasticism was subject to the imperial legislation of Justinian. he added. in the words of Dawson.hypocrisy of false ascetics and wandering monks who lived in idleness and exploited popular superstition. ‘marks the final assimilation of the monastic institution by the Roman spirit and the tradition of the Western Church’ 34.604).deliberately dissuaded his friends from entering public
34
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Chapter 4 .
The political situation in the West made it possible for monasticism to develop as a kind of alternative society. however. independent of external control and based on voluntary membership … Thus in an age of insecurity and disorder and barbarism. Dawson helps us to understand the influence of Western monasticism by situating it in a society struggling not to be overwhelmed by the barbarism we have become familiar with. We can glimpse the Christian ethos of this age when we learn that Gregory the Great – himself a Roman aristocrat who had embraced the monastic life.547) and St Gregory the Great (d.
The monastic community which developed.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 21
. In the political stability of Eastern Christianity. the great legislators of (Western) monasticism were St Benedict (d. the barbarian rulers were in no position to control the new movement – so that. the Benedictine Rule embodied an ideal of spiritual order and disciplined moral activity which made the monastery an oasis of peace in a world of war’. Thus it was a free society. was a selfcontained society ‘which was completely Christian in so far as it existed only for spiritual ends and was regulated down to the most minute detail by a rule of life which took the place of social custom and secular law. Dawson wrote. as his achievements on the world stage make clear .

The spread of monasticism inevitably led to educational initiatives. Each culture was founded on honour and fidelity. Dawson wrote. in the skills necessary for the life of the monastery such as agriculture and building construction. and a knowledge of the calendar. but not destroyed or lost’. reaching Spain and Britain at the same time as Gaul.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 22
. Dawson linked this parallel with the remarkable fact that ‘so many men and women’ of royal blood and the lesser nobility ‘entered the cloister and took a leading part in the conversion of their kinsfolk’ 36. each was bonded together by the stories of their heroic traditions. music.
The movement spread rapidly in the West. ‘This correspondence’. we have the abbot and his community which is sworn to obedience to eternal life’.
New
candidates must be instructed in Christian doctrine. Dawson wrote. and it soon reached Ireland. on the grounds that the world was nearing its end and that it was better to seek the peace of the cloister in which a man became a partaker in eternity 35. in reading and writing and the Latin tongue.service.
35 36
RWC 47-49 RWC 50-51 37 RWC 51
Chapter 4 . ‘an autonomous Christian culture centring in the monasteries and permeating the Church and the life of the people’ 37. which was sublimated and transformed. on the other. ‘Thus there developed’. calligraphy. ‘made it possible for men to pass from one to the other by a profound change in their beliefs and their system of moral values without losing vital contact with the old social tradition. Dawson pointed to the ironic fact that the monastic way of life had a certain similarity with the culture of a tribal warrior society: ‘On the one side we have the chieftain and his company of warriors who are bound to follow him to the death.

not only to its appeal to the kings and nobles of the barbarian kingdom. its loss of a vital relationship with the peasant way of life of its origins. Dawson wrote. Dawson went on to quote the writings of Gregory the Great who. ‘It was the discipline and tireless labour of the monks which turned the tide of barbarism in Western Europe’. he saw as a significant factor in the decline of the Greco-Roman civilization. described an abbot who ‘when summoned to give an account of his mission. Dawson judged that a healthy culture is ‘a living whole’ – ‘from its roots in the soil. and in the simple instinctive life of the shepherds … up to its flowering in the highest achievements of the artist and the philosopher’ 38. ‘and brought back into cultivation the lands which had been deserted and depopulated in the age of the (barbarian) invasions’ 39. For this reason. Dawson wrote. The strength of the new movement. for instance. The benefits it
brought to northern Europe went far beyond the educational developments we have just mentioned.
38 39
John Henry Newman. ‘was due. in giving ‘a most sympathetic picture of the peasant life of contemporary Italian monasticism’. as Dawson describes another achievement of the monastic movement.
The part played by monasticism in the formation of European culture has often been pointed out.As we have seen. For the monastery was … capable of becoming the spiritual and
economic centre of a purely rural society … so that the peasant who for so long had been the forgotten bearer of the whole social structure. summed up this
DWH 387 RWC 52-53
Chapter 4 . We are reminded of these judgments. presented himself before the pope’s messengers in peasant dress and hobnail shoes carrying the scythe with which he had been mowing the hay’. found his way of life recognised and honoured by the highest spiritual authority of the age’.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 23
. it was also a power … which brought Christian culture to the heart of the rural society.

Chapter 4 . local community.movement. and his mission was to restore it. that often till the work was done. to be considered later in this chapter: a ‘natural autonomy of the competent groups of the social order: family.
Robert Nisbet. church. or discovered in the forest.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 24
. rather than a … correction or
conversion. The monastic spirit was ‘a resurrection of what is believed to be essential in man’s nature … reliance upon a simple untrammelled
40 41
Cited RWC 53-54. and a city’ 40. an ‘uncovering of those autonomous and free interdependences among human beings which are believed to be natural to man and his morality … the most fundamental aim of the tradition of community in Western social thought’ (150). guild. ‘found a world. Monasticism’s ‘complex of values centred upon decentralisation of the social order’ – which was in contrast with what was taken for granted in the Roman Empire that preceded it and in the modern national state that succeeded it. digging. in ruins. so gradually. an abbey. could be giving a commentary on Newman’s words as he explained what was essential to the movement inspired by The Rule of St Benedict. in the way not of science. but by degrees the woody swamp became a hermitage. The Social Philosophers (New York: Washington Square Press. References which follow at to this work. R. a seminary. but of nature … so quietly. or drew attention to what was going on. ‘Benedict’. he wrote. The new work which he helped to create was a growth rather than a structure. and the various forms of voluntary association’ (151). the social philosopher. It was a restoration. he wrote. so patiently. Silent men were observed about the country. a school of learning. a village. Nisbet related this attitude to the general ethos which was to develop later in the Middle Ages. it was not known to be doing. clearing and building … There was no one who contended or cried out. What he wrote helps us to appreciate the formative influence this movement was to have in the emergence of European civilization 41. 1983). a religious house. It was. physical and social. Nisbet. a farm.

Dawson wrote. as men of learning and masters of the word of power. One of the most remarkable qualities noted by those who have studied the Benedictine Rule.cooperation and love among human beings rather than coercion in many of its manifestations’ (151). waterless areas and impassable forests … in nonexploitative fashion’ (153). ‘had to compete with a very ancient and elaborate system of vernacular cultures and education. which had been handed down for centuries by the sacred order of seers and poets who held a very important place in Irish society’. found a harmony with nature which ‘made possible the reclamation of marshes. The monastic spirit. ‘is that even the most virtuous of objectives must be pursued in moderation. a tradition of learning was stimulated by its interaction with the old barbarian culture: the Christian culture. without the kind of single-mindedness. the fanatical intensity. which was never dealt with ‘other than with respect’.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 25
.
42
RWC 54
Chapter 4 . In this context. Nisbet wrote. ‘What the rule says’. he wrote.
Celtic monasticism’s influence was similar to that of the Benedictine monasteries. rather than degrade the human body and its functions’ (155-56). ‘the representatives of the new culture could only triumph by meeting their rivals on their own ground. Nisbet wrote. and therefore it was natural that Irish monasteries should … become not only abodes of prayer and asceticism but also schools and centres of learning’ 42. Nisbet wrote. In Ireland. And Nisbet noted the ‘essential healthiness’ of Benedict’s attitude to the monks’ welfare in mind and body. Benedict’s Rule showed a ‘penetrating insight into the competitive impulses which can operate even in a setting that is communal’. that has often in history transformed even the good into the despotic and corrupting’ (158). as a consequence. is the fact that ‘it is composed of injunctions which elevate.

‘that the two traditions influenced and stimulated one another’.
It was in Anglo-Saxon England. providing the ideal via media between the superhuman asceticism of Celtic monasticism and the chaotic multiplicity of independent rules and observances that prevailed in Merovingian Gaul’ 43.This vital Celtic monasticism produced a movement of missionary expansion which contributed to the Church on the continent. Both of them were to have key roles in developments which were to reap some of the fruits of the age of monasticism. the influential advisor of Charlemagne. and in a vernacular literature that showed ‘how the new literary culture was able to assimilate and preserve the epic traditions of the old heroic poetry of the Teutonic barbarians’ 44. As the monastic traditions of continental Europe and the Celts came to interact.
43 44
RWC 57-58 RWC 58. in the calligraphy of the Lindisfarne Gospels. ‘that the meeting of the two monastic traditions produced the deepest and most lasting influence in Western culture’. founding the island monastery of Lindisfarne in 634. came. Gregory the Great had sent Benedictine missionaries to southern
Britain from Rome. and Alcuin (730-804). Dawson wrote. Dawson observed. ‘the Rule of St Benedict showed its greatness. Dawson wrote. and Celtic missionaries had converted the region of Northumbria.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 26
.735). 60-61
Chapter 4 . It was in this region. the ‘apostle of Germany’. The result was an outstanding culture that is evident in the
writings of Venerable Bede (d. and brought a new vitality to the monastic life in Western Europe in the seventh and eighth centuries.
It was from this monastic culture that both St Boniface (675-753).

whose monasteries – drawing on the heritage of Northumbrian culture – became centres of Christian culture and missionary outreach to newly converted regions. he carried through a program of ecclesiastical reform in a series of local councils held between 740 and 747 45. to die a martyr at the hands of barbarian pagans. It involved a triple alliance between Anglo-Saxon missionaries. Dawson wrote.
The full plan of reform envisaged by Boniface was never realised – meeting opposition from the profoundly secularised episcopate and a lack of cooperation from Pepin. Dawson wrote.
housing whole populations of monks and dependents. He retired to his former monastic and missionary life.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 27
. Boniface consecrated Pepin as king of the Franks in 753. and the family of Charles Martel. These monasteries were vast complexes of buildings. the Papacy. had taken the place of the cities of the Roman Empire ‘and was to remain the centre of medieval culture until the rise of the new type of city commune in the eleventh and twelfth centuries’ 46. it was part of a far-sighted program of construction and reform. Boniface was able to challenge the resistance he encountered from local monastic groups and local bishops.
All of this was only possible with the help of Anglo-Saxon monks and missionaries. the de facto rulers of the Frankish Kingdom.‘The work of St Boniface’. His mission to Germany was not an isolated spiritual adventure like the achievements of his Celtic predecessors. With the help of the sons of Charles Martel. out of which the Carolingian Empire and Carolingian culture ultimately emerged’. As apostolic legate of the Holy See. ‘did more than any other factor to lay the foundations of medieval Christianity. however. Later papal initiatives. led to
45 46
RWC 62 RWC 62-63
Chapter 4 . The monastery. planned with all the method and statesmanship of the Roman tradition.

Thus the papacy came to accept a situation in which the Carolingian monarchy had a large measure of control over Church property and personnel in the lands ruled by the Franks. ‘had created the new Empire’. Dawson wrote. directly or indirectly he ruled most of the European continent from eastern Spain to the Danube and the Elbe. ‘was an essentially theocratic institution … In fact the fusion of the temporal and spiritual powers was far more complete in the Carolingian state than it had been … in the Byzantine Empire. being appointed and controlled by the
47
RWC 79-80
Chapter 4 .
In the eighth century. The king of the Franks became the patron and protector of the Holy See. Charlemagne (748-814). which was of such importance for the development of Western culture … covered every aspect of the common life of the Christian people. but his enlightened rule was inspired ‘by the ideals of the monks and scholars whom he gathered at his court and from whom his counsellors and ministers and officials were recruited’. bishops shared authority with the counts. in 800. They were defeated and
brought into subjection by Charlemagne in 774.a new relationship of the Frankish kingdom with the Holy See during the reign of Pepin and his successor. Equally impressive. Dawson wrote.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 28
. however. was the quality of his administration. The legislation of Charles the Great. With Byzantine authority effectively abolished. the Lombards – a Germanic tribal group which had invaded northern Italy in the sixth century and gone on to establish an extensive kingdom – were threatening the papal territories. ‘His
sword’. What developed under Charlemagne’s rule. Charlemagne was. a relationship which was to have far reaching consequences. crowned in Rome by the pope as Emperor of the Romans. from economics and police to liturgy and higher education and preaching’ 47. In civil administration.
Charlemagne’s political success was enormous.

The legislation promulgated by Charlemagne. Dawson continued. ‘both the priest and the king were members and ministers of the same Christian society. The authority of the anointed monarch. For this culture. marked ‘the emergence of a new social consciousness of Western Christendom’.
Throughout the Middle Ages. however. both alike were consecrated by God for their office. it was enforced by the very real authority of the Church’ – as was dramatically demonstrated twenty years after the death of Charlemagne. Louis the Pious. For the first time. Alcuin (the emperor’s Northumbrian monk advisor and scholar) ‘writes again and again of Charles as the second David.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 29
. Dawson wrote. This did not mean. Charlemagne’s authority brought about ecclesiastical and liturgical reforms which did much to increase the cultural unity of Europe.
48 49
RWC 80-81 RWC 82-83
Chapter 4 . In the end. laws which covered the whole field of social activity in Church and state ‘referred all things to the single standard of the Christian ethos’. the chosen leader of the people of God’. was judged unfit to rule and deposed by the bishops of the realm 49. was ‘counterbalanced throughout the greater part of the Middle Ages by its conditional and revocable character.emperor. Dawson wrote. one to teach and the other to judge’ 48. this acceptance of two consecrated authorities governing the one society gave rise to tensions and conflicts. that the Church’s authority was seen as essentially subordinated to that of the ruler. when in 834 his successor. This was not empty flattery. Dawson wrote. but an indication of ‘a unitary conception of the Christian community in which the distinction of Church and state’ which we take so much for granted ‘had become blurred and unimportant’. and this was not a mere concession to theological theory.

what began as sporadic raiding gave way to organised invasions by professional Viking armies bent on conquest and settlement. The movement targeted monasteries.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 30
. a contemporary chronicler wrote. he wrote. however. destroy the churches and burn the towns. His successors were men of lesser stature. suggests a pattern similar to what we saw in an earlier age. and new kings emerged whose authority came from their ability to protect their region from barbarian invaders. Describing what he called ‘the destruction of the Christian people’.
The Carolingian Empire was finished as a political unity. There is no road or place where the ground is not covered with corpses’50.
Dawson’s cultural analysis of the situation we have just described. Dawson wrote. Paris was sacked by the Northmen. the Empire’s cultural centres. The monastic culture of Ireland and Northumbria was never to recover. and private wars and blood feuds were as prevalent in Christian society as among its pagan neighbours. Eventually. Saracen raiders from the western Mediterranean and Magyars from the eastern steppes.
50
RWC 84-87
Chapter 4 . The reign of law initiated by Charlemagne gave way to a society in which the old warrior ethos reasserted itself. The lessening of the difference between the culture of Christians and that of the barbarians. more destructive than those experienced during the decline of the Roman Empire – Scandinavian pirates from the north. following the same path. The feudal oath between lord and subject became the only basis of social order. But the principal reason for this decline was the fact that for the next century and a half Western Christendom experienced a new storm of barbarian invasions. Rome was plundered by Saracen raiders. as the Irish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries and spreading a new outburst of barbarism. ‘The Northmen slay and carry off into captivity.The achievements of Charlemagne did not last.

Dawson makes an interesting comment on the work of the English king. The Viking conquerors on Christian soil … often became Christian from the moment of their settlement. in ‘the development of the vernacular culture … All his achievements as a warrior king are perhaps less heroic than the determination with which he set himself in his later years to acquire learning in order to restore to his people the lost tradition of Christian culture’. Dawson judged that the sense of international Christianity fostered by Charlemagne played an important part in this process. Faced with the onslaught of the Viking invasions. Dawson wrote.‘made it easier for the latter to become assimilated by Christian society. as that sense was given a continuing expression in the authority exercised by the bishops. Alfred the Great (849-99). The remarkable translations Alfred produced with the help of foreign scholars represented. He was attempting to do for England what Charlemagne had attempted to do for Western Christendom as a whole. thus forming an intermediary zone between Christendom and the pagan world. through which Christian influence gradually penetrated back to the homeland of the conquerors and prepared the way for the conversion of Scandinavia’ 51.
Chapter 4 . ‘to compare the work of Alfred with that of Charlemagne. ‘a deliberate attempt to adapt the Christian classical culture. Even though the structures of government had disappeared. Nevertheless his modest plan for the diffusion of a vernacular Christian culture was perhaps more suited to the real needs of the age than the theocratic universalism of the Carolingian Empire’ 52. ‘It is interesting’ Dawson continued. which had been confined to the international world of Latin culture. Alfred sought a remedy for a crisis that threatened to wipe out Christian culture. He was working in far more unfavourable circumstances with insufficient resources and inadequate intellectual help. Dawson wrote.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 31
. to the needs of the new
51 52
RWC 88 RWC 90.

and let those whom one wishes to educate further and to advance to a higher rank afterwards be instructed in the Latin language’ 53.
Alfred’s efforts bore fruits long after his death.
Dawson has summarised the complex unfolding of this conversion process in Scandinavia. England was the principal victim of a new wave of Viking attacks. become a Christian. introducing English bishops and monks into Denmark and Norway. sons of free men who have the wherewithal.
Chapter 4 .national culture’. RWC 100. was a generous
patron of the Church. and he went on to quote Alfred’s remarkable declaration of what he had in mind. and so bring it about – as we easily may with God’s aid if only we have peace – that all the youth of England. until they can read English writing well. above all. until in 1016 Canute the son of the leader of the attackers was recognised as the king of England and became the founder of an Anglo-Scandinavian empire. This mixing of cultures exposed the northern peoples to the
international life of western Christendom without destroying their traditional culture. Canute.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 32
. in Iceland that the scholars of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries took up the tradition of King Alfred and founded the great school of vernacular historiography and archaeology to which we owe so much of our knowledge of the past’ 54. ‘It was. Pastoral Care: ‘It seems good to me that we should also turn some of the books that all men ought to know into that language that we can all understand. shall be set to learning before they are fit for other things. Dawson wrote. in the preface he wrote to Gregory and Great’s classic.
53 54
TME 217. In the late tenth century.

Dawson wrote ‘to local centres of military control – the county and feudal principality – which became the vital political realities’.Canute’s rule was fragile. The ‘kingdoms’ which emerged were little more than relics of ancient prestige. RWC 90-91
Chapter 4 . Dying in battle. His successor. brought the great tribal duchies under his monarchical rule.
The Church. the Norwegian ruler seeking greater independence. Gregory VII 55.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 33
. ‘Otto I went even further than Charlemagne in his reliance on the Church in the practical administration of the Empire. Having the support of the churchmen. Dawson pointed to the far reaching consequences of ‘the conversion of the episcopate into a territorial and political power’
55 56
RWC 94-97. Otto the Great (91273). Olaf Haroldson. In 1030. so that the bishops … became the main instruments of government’. was in fact ‘a civil war against Canute’s pagan subjects who had been bought by English money’. and later as Emperor of the West – being crowned in Rome in 962. was a counterbalance to this centrifugal tendency. Olaf was considered a national hero. Dawson wrote. This battle.
The collapse of the political unity achieved by Charlemagne on the continent gave rise. Dawson wrote. first as king of Germany (936). ‘the loyalty of the episcopate to the monarchical principle was solemnly reasserted … by the great synod of Hohenaltheim in 916’. Dawson wrote. who ruled the nation in an extended period of peace rare in Norwegian medieval history gave the Church a more stable organisation and established good relations with the reforming pope. and he was canonised by popular acclaim the next year. the duke of Saxony. his forces defeated Olaf. he concluded: ‘The king of the tenth century was no more than the ‘honorary president of a committee of feudal magnates who were their own masters and ruled as kings in their own principalities’ 56.

throughout the territories ruled by Charlemagne.
In Gregory VII (Hildebrand). In the judgment of Dawson.
RWC 91-92 RWC 92. Abbot of Lorsch and Corvey. we meet one of the initiators of a new era of medieval history. had refused to accept that secular office was consistent with the spiritual functions of the episcopate. finally. Leading minds in the Carolingian Church. Duke of Lorraine and. this involved a further evolution of the cultural dualism that had been at work in the formative period of our Western tradition. Regent of the Empire during the absence of Otto in Italy’ (RWC 92). and it was to lead to a remarkable flowering in the early thirteenth century. Dawson pointed to Otto the Great’s brother. including such men as Boniface. If Charlemagne’s theocratic order aimed in principle to embrace the whole of Western Christendom.
Dawson pointed to the irremediable flaw in the situation churchmen now found themselves in.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 34
. especially ‘in the lands of the Empire in Germany and Lorraine. as a prototype of the political ecclesiastics who were to feature prominently in later European history. it had national aims and interests. and even afterwards ‘until the ecclesiastical principalities were finally liquidated in the age of Napoleon’ 57.
58
57
Chapter 4 . a reformer who sought to carry forward the expression of the ideals of Christianity as the Church emerged from the tumultuous developments we have been following. the new German Empire was very different – ‘never coterminous with Western Christendom’. where it was destined to condition the relations of Church and state for six hundred years’. so that ‘there was an inherent contradiction between the spiritual office and the political functions of the new type of count-bishop who was the central figure in the administration of the Empire’ 58. ArchChancellor of the Empire. he ‘accumulated every kind of ecclesiastical and secular dignity … Archbishop of Cologne. he wrote. with whom Olaf Haroldson established friendly relations on behalf of the Scandinavian Church.

describing a society ‘without law or restraint’. Abbeys and bishoprics – apportioned by the civil rulers – ‘were treated’ Dawson wrote.
Dawson cites a declaration of churchmen of the province of Reims in 909. their soldiers and their dogs’. and monasteries that have not been destroyed no longer have any ‘observance of the rule’ – presided over by ‘lay abbots with their wives and children. so that ‘an innumerable
59
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Chapter 4 . they were bought and sold.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 35
. In particular. ‘in the same way as lay fiefs. representatives of both sides of the dialectic shared an outlook that did not recognise the ‘inherent contradiction’ Dawson has referred to – of a situation in which. since the rule of Charlemagne. This situation has come about the bishops declared ‘by our
negligence. of course. ‘men devour one another like the fishes in the sea’. and the responsibilities of Christian bishops and abbots were seriously compromised by their involvement in the feudal system that was seen as the safeguard of social stability: making them proprietors of huge estates on which a large part of the population were serfs and descendents of serfs bound to work on these estates. for those involved to understand the complexity of their situation. They were appropriated by violence.We are already familiar with this cultural dualism – the dialectic which brought a meeting between the ideals of Christian faith and the chaotic reality of life in communities adjusting to life in the aftermath of barbarian invasion and conquest. it was seen as the duty of Christian princes to intervene in religious and ecclesiastical affairs. our ignorance and that of our brethren’. It was not easy.
The abuses that arose from this state of affairs were obvious enough. in which ‘the powerful oppress the weak’. or used as rewards for successful military adventures’ 59.

It is not surprising therefore that the movement of renewal began in the monasteries. that ‘the reign of injustice has it roots deep in human nature and cannot be abolished by reliance on external means … the spiritual reformer cannot expect to have the majority on his side … the true helpers of the world are the poor in spirit’ 62.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 36
. and in fact at the very time when the bishops of the Belgic province were composing this Jeremiad. one realises that he is giving us a striking example of his contention that one of the historian’s greatest assets is a cultural imagination that can identify with the subject being interpreted: it is Dawson’s deep appreciation of the genius of the Christian tradition that made possible the enlightening interpretation he offered. and their conception of divine grace as a continually renewed source of
60 61
RWC 120-121 RWC 121 62 RWC 123-24 63 Augustine’s The City of God was ‘the one great work of Christian antiquity’. ‘which professedly deals with the relation of the state and of human society in general to Christian principles’ (DWH 294)
Chapter 4 . ‘Western monasticism always possessed a strong consciousness of its social responsibility and its missionary functions … The Augustinian theology and philosophy of history 63. Dawson observed.
The reformers realised. Dawson wrote.multitude of both sexes and every condition reach old age without instruction … ignorant even of the words of the Creed and the Lord’s prayer’ 60. the first steps of reform were being taken in neighbouring provinces … A new movement arose from the midst of feudal society to meet the new danger of the feudal secularisation of the Church’ 61. Dawson wrote. If the monk’s primary concern was his own spiritual journey.
Reading Dawson’s analysis of this development.
‘When the leaders of any society realise the gravity of the situation and admit their own responsibility like this’. Dawson wrote. ‘the situation is never desperate.

in Germany and elsewhere in France. If we judged by realities we should give honour not to the rich for the fine clothes they wear but to the poor who are the makers of such things. Dawson wrote.
The reform movement emanating from Cluny (on the Rhone. the reform movement ‘was assisted rather than hindered by the decentralisation and local particularism’ of the political situation. Dawson observed. ‘often crossed and blended their influence with one another … Thus all over Western Europe new centres of monastic reform were
64 65
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Chapter 4 . These various
movements. by quoting the words of St Odo. ‘You have only to study the books of antiquity to see that the most powerful are always the worst. Similar centres came into existence in the Low Countries. the second abbot of Cluny (927-942). one of the leaders of the reform movement: How can the nobles who are robbing the poor be called Christians? he asked.supernatural energy which transforms human nature and changes the course of history … had become part of the spiritual patrimony of the Western Church and. for the banquets of the powerful are cooked in the sweat of the poor’ 65.
Dawson gave an example of the awakening that was taking place.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 37
. above all. of Western monasticism’ 64. Worldly nobility is due not to nature but to pride and ambition. so that ‘the loose and shapeless organisation of the feudal state made it possible for the reformed (monastic) congregations to extend their influence by patronage and recommendation in the same way as a great feudal estate’ 66.
As an autonomous movement within the alternative world of monasticism. north of Lyons) – through new foundations and older monasteries seeking reform – extended from Southern Italy to Eastern England.

had an immediate effect on its international influence’ 68. The first reforming councils and synods – held early in the 11th century in Germany. Dawson wrote. In fact. confronted the situation of the Holy See. set aside all three claimants and imposed a German bishop as his nominee. Dawson continued. ‘The Papacy’.
Leo IX. its interests limited by the feuds of local factions … far from taking the lead in the movement of reform … was in dire need of reform itself’. The three popes whom the Emperor nominated in rapid succession. Eventually Emperor Henry III. Italy and France – took place through initiatives of the Emperor and the kings of France. ‘under the control of the Roman nobility.
Dawson wrote. at the Council of Sutri (1046). elected in 1048.arising like islands of peace and spiritual order in a sea of feudal anarchy. Dawson wrote. ‘created an alliance between the Papacy and the movement of religious reform which had its centre in Lorraine and Burgundy. an austere and devout friend of the reforming party. it was to the royal power rather than to the bishops or the Papacy that they looked for support’. ‘It was the Emperors rather than the Pope who took the initiative in the work of reform’. The aides he brought to Rome gave a new
67 68
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Chapter 4 . Monasteries had ceased to be a helpless spectator of the moral disorder of Christendom and had become an independent power in Western society’ 67.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 38
. had as yet no idea of any fundamental change in the relations between the spiritual and temporal power …In so far as they were concerned with the state of the Church outside the monastery. Emperor Henry III. the third of these popes. bringing the Holy See ‘into intimate relations with Northern and Central Europe. Dawson continued.
How was the call for a reform of the prevailing ways of feudal society to have effect however? The reformers themselves. After a disputed papal election.

‘The reform of the Church was no longer the aim of scattered groups of ascetics and idealists.
Humbert was a dynamic figure whose intransigence in negotiations with the Byzantine Church contributed to an estrangement which was finally to lead to schism between Eastern and Western Churches. But his work of transforming the papacy from the outstanding example of corruption into the chief agent of Church reform was continued by his successors. Rome entered into a new alliance with the Normans in southern Italy. During these developments. it became the official policy of the Roman Church’ 69. Attempting to meet this danger by political and military means.life and purpose to the Papacy. the empire was ruled by a minor. Besides crossing the Alps and holding reforming councils in Germany. he was defeated and captured by the Normans. such as St Peter Damian. Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida. and the monk Hildebrand who was appointed Archdeacon of the Roman Church. did not recognise that such a view was indefensible. The confusion that existed in the period is made evident by the fact that even members of the reform party. Dawson observed. two men emerged who were to be key players in the program of reform. Leo IX had to contend with a Norman invasion in Southern Italy. His polemical writings against the widespread abuse of simony (the buying of ecclesiastical office) took the extreme view that simony was not merely sinful but a heresy which rendered the sacramental ministry of those being raised to Church office in that way null and void. Victor II (1055-59).
After the death of Henry III.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 39
.
69
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Chapter 4 . Stephen (1057-58) and Nicholas II (1058-61). In a daring political switch. now. and the Papacy could no longer count on support from the imperial authorities in the work of Church reform.

Though his importance has always been
recognised. ‘his personality and his work have been the subject of most diverse judgments’. in tune with the evolving social reality of medieval society: the Empire. Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale University Press. that extreme views. but ‘a man of intense spiritual convictions with a deep sense of his prophetic mission … It is in the Bible and. above all. ‘who was the theorist and ideologist of the reform movement’. my whole desire and the end of all my striving has been that the Holy Church. 71 RWC 131-133
Chapter 4 . must be modified’ 70. see Eamon Duffy.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 40
. he wrote. should recover her honour and remain free and chaste and Catholic’ 71
The reform movement’s objective was to do away with the abuse of unworthy leadership in the Church which was often a consequence of the part played by civil authorities in Church affairs. ‘had become an archaic survival from the point of view of
70
For details of the tumultuous reign of Gregory VII. It was Cardinal Humbert. in Dawson’s judgment. and on the other. as an ambitious ecclesiastical politician. in the Prophets that the real source of Gregory VII’s inspiration is to be found … His sense of the urgency of his mission and the terrible predicament of the Christian world finds its most striking expression in the last appeal he addressed to the Christian people from his exile in Salerno before his death: ‘To me also … that word of the Prophet has come “Go up into the mountain and cry aloud. Dawson judged that he is a far more significant figure than Cardinal Humbert. spare not” …Since the day when the Church has placed me on the apostolic throne.A figure of great influence as Archdeacon of Rome. and the movement’s new alliance with the leadership of a reformed Roman Church was. which have seen him. Gregory VII. he continued. the Bride of God. on the one hand. was not an original thinker. as ‘the prime author and inspirer of the whole reforming movement. our mistress and our mother. for his part. It is now recognised. Dawson wrote. Hildebrand was elected pope as Gregory VII in 1073.
Dawson concluded. This objective. 1997) pp. 94-99.

It was this conflict that initiated debate concerning the principles on which Christian society was based. transcended national and
territorial rivalries. University Press.
While this development was well accepted by the new feudal societies. and the reformed Papacy provided such an expression more effectively than any political institution could have done’. Man and Society in the Twelfth Century (Toronto. The Papacy.Western Europe as a whole. the relation of Church and state.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 41
. Hungary and Croatia. concerning the intellectual climate. 1968).
Chapter 4 . Nature. which accepted the protection of the Holy See as ‘vassals of St Peter’. Yet the sense of the unity of Christendom was stronger than ever and demanded some new institutional expression.-D. where the new feudal states had become the leaders of culture. and the issue of resistance to unjust authority. involving convoluted politics and a philosophical and theological outlook which was struggling to formulate an authentic expression of the ideals of the Christian tradition 73. Denmark.
The evolving cultural situation was very complex. see Eamon Duffy. such as Spain. Dawson
demonstrated his historical genius by identifying a theme which makes possible an illuminating interpretation of the this complexity – he saw the developments which were to lead to a remarkable outcome in the 13th century. in the Empire – where the bishops were the mainstay of the imperial system – there was a conflict of ideals that led to a struggle that was to go on for generations. Dawson continued. Chenu. Dawson concluded. and it had the flexibility to enter into new forms of relationship with the existing political reality – Gregory VII established such relationships with remote Christian territories. see M. And though this did not imply any direct political control. Saints and Sinners. as being
72 73
RWC 133-34 For further details concerning the political situation. ‘it emphasised the new position of the Papacy as the centre of international society’ 72.

The vengeful spirit of barbarian society was gradually transformed.produced by the dialectic between the raw reality of a society emerging from barbarism and the authentic ideals of the Christian tradition. Dawson guides his reader through the involved history of the 11th and 12th centuries drawing attention to the way in which. It inspired Roger Bacon’s ‘immense survey of all existing and possible science … It finds an almost perfect literary expression in Dante’s epic.
The renewed Christian spirit that had been engendered in the reformed monasteries. and there was a revival of religious.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 42
. and it was embodied in visible form in the great French Cathedrals.
The ultimate outcome. intellectual and artistic life 75. began to influence society at large. its ideal was ‘the universal organisation of human knowledge and human life by a spiritual principle’. But above all it found supreme expression in the philosophical systems of the 13th century – those great “cathedrals of ideas” as Professor Gilson has called them. as a new political stability promoted cultural interaction. The very ruthlessness of the feudal rulers’ maintenance of social order led to an increase of population. concerned far more than Church politics. Dawson wrote. towns and markets were revived. Dawson wrote. roads were once more open to traders. in which all the acquisitions of Aristotelian and Arabic science have been organically incorporated within the Christian tradition in a intelligible unity’ 74. the dominant spirit of thirteenth-century culture. If the feudal noble was descended
74 75
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Chapter 4 . through the dialectic we have referred to. the Christian ideal expressed itself in a whole range of cultural developments – developments which were to come together in the remarkable culture of the early 13th century.

Dawson suggested that contact with the culture of Moslem Spain played a part in this. And this gradual
leavening of the heroic ethos by the influence of Christian values found a popular literary expression in the chansons de geste. William of St Thierry. This exotic spirit. however. Through the music and poetry of the troubadours. exemplified in the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux. the vision of a new and delightful way of life penetrated feudal society. the knight became a consecrated person. wealth and liberality. which was frankly worldly and hedonistic – exalting love and honour. and citing contemporary accounts reflecting the deep impression made by a meeting with the brilliance of Islamic culture upon ‘the men of the North. who knew only the harsh and comfortless life of the stronghold’ 77. The feudal relation between the warrior and his lord became associated with religious motives. but to be a defender of the Church. and Aelred of Rivaux.from tribal warriors.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 43
. pledged not only to be faithful to his lord. Dawson observed. the widow and the orphan 76.
Not surprisingly. in a ritual presided over by the bishop. in a concern to nourish the interior psychological development of the individual’s emotional
76 77
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Chapter 4 . he was reminded that he was a Christian knight who owed loyalty to Christian society and a certain fidelity to the Church. beauty and joy – seemed the very opposite of the other-worldliness and asceticism which inspired reformers like the influential Bernard of Clairvaux. the beginnings of a genuine humanism can be recognised within the eleventh century monastic culture.
In fact. these cultural developments gave rise to a new tradition of humanism. pointing to the transmission of Arabic philosophy and science which was taking place at the time.

‘Did the Twelfth Century Discover the Individual?’. this evangelical revival had tended increasingly to take institutional form … The vita apostolica (apostolic life). in Jesus Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages (Berkley Ca. a juridical as well as a spiritual concept.-D. Man and Society in the Twelfth Century.life and affective bonds within the monastic community 78. had a considerable resemblance to these other evangelical fellowships. Dawson wrote. ‘above all by the fact that its founder was one of the greatest religious geniuses in the history of Christendom. St Francis’ group of friars. Nature. a man of the most intense originality who had a profound influence on the spirit of Western Christianity and Western culture … What St
78
Cf. and endowing it with a transcendent cosmic significance’ 79. but entirely spontaneous … transposition of the ideal of courtesy to the higher plane of the Christian life.: University of California. was obviously favourable to such a development from the beginning. 240-241). had sufficiently broken with the world to proclaim the absolute and literal value of the gospel – and to proclaim it even at the risk of causing institutions fundamental to the Church to be questioned … the formation of numerous orders of ‘poor men’ on the eve of the Lateran Council (1215). as Nisbet has analysed it for us. ‘It differed from them’.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 44
. Caroline Walker Bynum.82109. Dawson wrote. It is surprising that Dawson made no
reference to this cultural strand as he discussed the origins of humanism in the medieval West. the new reformers transubstantiated the Gregorian ideal … The movement was expanded and greatly strengthened by the proliferation of groups of laymen who. The Benedictine spirit. ‘we find in Italy a really profound and fruitful assimilation of the ideals of the courtly culture by the spiritual life of medieval Christendom … above all in the case of St Francis … In fact. and shortly thereafter … the foundation of the mendicant orders … not only brought evangelism and the Church into happy equilibrium but. thus freeing it from its conventional aristocratic limitations.
Chapter 4 . the life of St Francis shows a conscious. from the original impetus given by Gregory VII. Chenu. however. 1984) pp. become the principle theme of the new movement … By proselytising the cities.
If in some places this courtly culture bordered on pagan hedonism. 79 RWC 158-59 80 Chenu describes this development: ‘For a century already. though part of the new society. in the field of doctrina sacra (sacred teaching) blended the study of the Bible with theological construction’ (M.
The group of friars who gathered around Francis were part of a widespread emergence of evangelical fellowships in many parts of Europe 80.

The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 45
.
The medieval city.
Another remarkable development of the period. its religious confraternities and guilds. and recover an immediate personal contact with the divine source of eternal life. the population of which was made up in great part by citizens who had absconded to free themselves from the often harsh obligations of the feudal system. ‘there arose the commune. it was closely related ‘to the movement of ecclesiastical reform’.
Chapter 4 . With the towns. Dawson commented. with unmistakeable links with the ideals of Christianity was the emerging culture of the towns – ‘free towns’.Francis desired was not a new religious Order nor any form of ecclesiastical organisation but a following of Christ – a new life that would shake off the encumbrances of tradition and organisation and property and learning. with its ‘integration of corporate organisation. and it was often under the leadership of popular preachers of ‘reformist’ ideals that towns rose in armed revolt against their feudal overlord bishops 82. Dawson wrote. ‘was far from being anticlerical in the vulgar sense of the word’. with its cathedrals and its intense church life. economic function and civic freedom’ was ‘the most complete
81 82
RWC 210. 212 RWC 164-65. though it
challenged the feudal system to which many of the bishops were committed. as revealed in the Gospel’ 81. its care for the spiritual and material welfare of its inhabitants and its educational and charitable institutions. Dawson quotes the German philosopher historian. This development. describing these towns: ‘It was only when the city which arose out of the disintegration and surplus of feudal land ownership had united its varied population. But for the historian of ethics and the religious life it also appears. as the highest point of the development of the medieval spirit’ (RWC 162). Dawson wrote. which was one of the social creations of the Middle Ages … an association in which all inhabitants of the town. and not the merchants alone. drawn from all sorts of different social origins. Ernst Troeltsch. to defend the common liberties and to obey the common officers’. that a ground was prepared on which the higher qualities of medieval society could be purified from the crudity and violence of feudalism … From the political and economic point of view the period of civic culture which begins in the eleventh century may be regarded as a preparation and foundation of the modern world. bound themselves by oath to keep the common peace.

Dawson acknowledged that the social realities of the day tended to limit the possibilities open to individuals. according to which ‘society is a natural organism.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 46
. in the writings of Thomas Aquinas and his contemporaries: ‘Mankind was one great society. ‘but. in principle’.e. each with its own office and ministry for the service of the whole … every individual member of the whole is an end in himself. and his particular officium or ministerium is not merely a compulsory social task but a way of the service of God through which he shares in the life of the whole’. each having a vital function to fulfil. Dawson wrote. but has a sovereign value. which finds its highest expression in the life of the free cities. Dawson sums up very neatly the understanding of liberty formulated by Aquinas. If he made use of Aristotle’s political theory. but the privilege of sharing in a highly organised form of corporate life which possesses its own constitution and rights of self-government’ 84. that portion of mankind which was incorporated in the Church … by its allegiance to the divine law and by its dedication to one transcendent end … a body with many members.
Here we can see the seeds of the liberty that has come to be so prized in our Western tradition. the human person is not a means to social achievement. member of the body social)’ 83. he concluded. in which the different classes
83 84
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Chapter 4 . was not the right of the individual to follow his own will. These ideals found their most highly developed expression. ‘the theory favours the conception of vocation and the internal autonomy of each particular organ (i. sufficient to itself. Dawson continued. and above all the regenerated human race. an understanding that compares favourably with the understanding widespread in today’s liberal democracy – of personal liberty as a compromise to maximise the self-interest of individual citizens: ‘The medieval idea of liberty.embodiment of the social ideals of the Middle Ages’. For Aquinas.

and the abbot consulted the views of the monks in their ‘chapter’ meetings. so that the lower classes. M. that was the locus of authority and administrative wisdom 86. The widespread revival of culture fostered scholarship and
literary activity. It was during
85
RWC 177. which are concerned with the mechanical arts or with unskilled labour. St
Thomas’ Dominican order had an ethos and form of governance that encouraged both participation and individual autonomy. Eerdmans. ed. Dawson wrote. have a purely instrumental character’. the abbot of the monastery was elected by the monks. Cf. It was the community.286-294.
The mendicant friars who were the companions of St Francis and Aquinas made an important contribution to the medieval universities – another development with clear roots in the revival of Christian faith taking place during the 11th and 12th centuries. R. J. Downey) pp. but only on condition that the state itself is recognised as an organ of the spiritual community and not as the sovereign end of human life’ 85. In the Benedictine tradition. ‘The “Free Society” of Modernity and the Consolidation of What It Has Achieved’.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 47
. impatient of restraint.
It is worth pointing out that the monastic culture. For a fuller discussion of the social theory of Aquinas. From its origins. 2000) Ch 8. especially through the regularly held chapters. see my Modernity (Grand Rapids: William B. provided a culture that was open to the developments we find in the thought of Aquinas. contemptuous of the past. Aquinas showed that ‘it is quite possible to incorporate the organic materialism of Aristotelian politics into the organic mysticism of the Christian view of society. 1993.exist solely for the sake of the whole. ‘Dominican Spirituality’ in The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality (Collegeville: Liturgical Press.
86
Chapter 4 . Zawilla. following the fashionable teacher and doctrine of the moment’. and its new expression in the community of the mendicant friars. producing ‘an intellectual proletariat of needy and ambitious scholars.

‘the movement towards integration and unity which had dominated Western Christendom since the eleventh century had lost its impetus. As a consequence. the development of the universities and the foundations of the Franciscan and Dominican friars were fostered by the rejuvenated Papacy.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 48
. or corporation of “masters” or licensed teachers under the control of the Chancellor’. that the schools of Paris gradually achieved their corporate organisation. Paris became the archetype of most of the universities of northern Europe 87. Dawson wrote. after the great flowering of the first half of the 13th century. there followed a period of intellectual criticism and cultural
87 88
RWC 185 RWC 186 89 RWC 197
Chapter 4 . Animated by the spirit of the commune. ‘From a very early date’.this time. the law schools of Bologna moved along a different path. Dawson wrote. However. and no longer found leaders capable of carrying it forward to new achievements’. ‘they began to manage their own affairs and to control their conditions of study’. ‘in the 12th century. This renowned centre of legal studies attracted students of a more mature age and higher social status than the clerical students of Paris and Oxford.
Meanwhile. in the same spirit.
In the climate brought by the sense of a single international community that had been engendered by a common Christian faith. Dawson wrote – as ‘part of a far-reaching design of the medieval Papacy for the intellectual organisation of Christian civilization which is one of the most remarkable examples of the planning of culture on a large scale that history has ever seen’ 89. which culminated in the great universitas. so that Bologna and the Italian universities which followed its tradition were essentially student corporations that ultimately had control over their teachers 88.

The medieval ideal Dawson saw as expressed in the vision of the great twelfth century English scholar and pioneer humanist. preoccupied with international and Church politics. but able lawyers and statesmen’. Though ‘the creation of the Mendicant Orders together with the foundation of the universities marked a culmination of the movement towards international and super-political unity which was the ideal of medieval Christendom’.change ‘which is of the utmost importance for the history of Western culture. but proved fatal to the synthesis of religion and culture that seemed to have been achieved in the previous centuries’ 90. John of Salisbury: ‘a sweet and fruitful marriage of Reason and the Word (of God)’.
For Dawson. Bernard of Clairvaux and Francis of Assisi with later developments in Church politics prepares us for his reiteration of the view that a lack of leadership qualities in those responsible for Church policy proved fatal to what seemed promised by the achievements of medieval culture. and thus produced a rift in the reform movement from which Medieval Christendom never recovered’ 91. In his last publication. Dawson observed. and ‘the Popes who did most to favour and make use of the Friars were not men of the type of Gregory VII or St Bernard. he referred to it as it affected grassroots scholarship. so that. included
90 91
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Chapter 4 .The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 49
. the historian of cultural change. these developments came too late: the great age of the reform movement was over.
Dawson’s contrasting of the outlooks of reformers like Gregory VII. which would be the source of a wholesome civilized culture. ‘it came about that the prophetic and evangelical vocation of the early Friars became subordinated to the demands of ecclesiastical power politics. Those who did not live up to this vision. this breakdown had many dimensions. The Crisis of Western Education (1961).

the late 13th century was a turning point: ‘For three centuries the development of Western Europe had been centripetal. His analysis of the history of the period convinced him that conflict and debate were part and parcel of the movement of religious reform which came to maturity in the first half of the 11th century: ‘the creative centuries of medieval culture owed their unity. disorderly.
92 93
CWE 19-20. for a time attained a position of cultural leadership through its alliance with the governing element in the Church’. but to the fact that the party of reform. towards the creation of an intellectual and spiritual system’. Dawson saw a relationship between this development and today’s ‘dislocation of the inner and outer worlds of human experience’ and the many consequences of this dislocation. it is important to note that he did not judge that it was conflict and debate as such that proved fatal for the developing synthesis. RWC 217 94 RWC 199-200
Chapter 4 .‘the clerical utilitarians who were intent on using education as a means of getting on in the world . tumultuous democracy’ which was out of touch with the ideals of the early thirteenth century 92 For Dawson. which was the dynamic element in medieval culture.
In order to understand Dawson’s interpretation of these developments. and giving new opportunities for spiritual leadership and the free choice of individual vocations’ 94.producing ‘an extraordinarily vital. not to the absence of strife. but now ‘this movement reversed and a centrifugal process begins which continues in later centuries’ 93. breaking down ‘the barriers of feudal class privilege and territorial particularism and division.The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 50
. becoming the primary force shaping the spiritual life of Western culture. ‘a principle of unity rather than division’.

He was the first Australian to be invited on the International Theological Commission. as we follow his interpretation of post-medieval cultural development in our Western tradition. In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Australian Catholic University in recognition of his outstanding academic and pastoral achievements. Email: thornhill@theemmausseries.Dawson has been seriously misrepresented by those who see his interpretation of medieval cultural development as the view of a nostalgic restorationist. As we shall see. He continues to read. holding up the achievement of the 13th century as a model to be recovered. teach.com
Chapter 4 .The Emergence of a Christian Civilization in the West – Page 51
. inspire and to live a theological life in Brisbane.
Author: John Thorhill SM is one of Australia's most eminent theologians. Dawson’s radical understanding of the dialectic that was at work in the medieval achievement makes it clear that he is anything but a nostalgic restorationist.